Political Notebook

Rochester's endorsementpalooza!

This weekend proved to be big for area endorsements. We now have a better idea of who will be on the ballot this November when it comes to local legislative races. Here's a brief recap.

House District 29A: This is the lone open seat without an incumbent running for re-election. Rep. Randy Demmer, R-Hayfield, has said he is not running and is instead focusing on winning the GOP endorsement for Congress. Democrats endorsed Douglas Wunderlich for the seat. He has long been active in the party. He is a retired teacher and volunteer firefighter who lives in Mantorville. Republicans endorsed Duane Quam, former chair of the First District Republicans. He beat out two other GOP candidates — Chuck Bradford and Kerry Stoick. Quam lives in Byron and is a senior engineer at IBM.

House District 29B: DFL incumbent Rep. Kim Norton was endorsed for the seat. Republicans endorsed former professional baseball player Mike Rolih for the seat.

Senate District 29: Senate Minority Leader Dave Senjem of Rochester secured the GOP endorsement. Democrats endorsed Byron driving school owner Greg French.

House District 30A: DFL incumbent Rep. Tina Liebling was endorsed. So far there is not a Republican candidate but party leaders say a few people are considering running.

House District 30B: Democrats endorsed incumbent Rep. Andy Welti of Plainview. Republicans endorsed Rochester business professor Mike Benson.

Senate District 30: incumbent Sen. Ann Lynch received the DFL party endorsement as she seeks a second term. There is no Republican candidate yet that has been endorsed. Former GOP state Rep. Carla Nelson has said she is considering running for the seat.

It's official: Gander drops out, Quam jumps in

Lots of news coming from local Republicans. Last night at the Senate District 30 endorsing convention, Rochester businessman Jim Gander announced he was dropping out of the Senate race. In an e-mail this morning, Gander said he decided not to challenge DFL Sen. Ann Lynch for the seat because he needs to focus on his business, Superior Mechanical.

Here is his statement:

"Yes, I have decided to drop opt of the race. It was a very difficult decision for Lisa and me. However, the good news is Superior Mechanical has rehired most of its people and we have a good amount of work ahead of us for the next year. The economy has taken its toll on many businesses especially the construction businesses. Superior Mechanical has taken on the challenge and reached out beyond its comfort zone both in types of work and in territory. For this reason, I need to respect the lingering effects of the downturn and pay attention to the business of my business. My family is a large one as it includes the families of my employees; all of us need to return to the earning capacity of years before. The 24/7 commitment of the race made the job of running my company impossible."

Republican Party of Olmsted County Co-chair Bruce Kaskubar said there are a couple of people considering running for the seat. College professor Mike Benson scored the endorsement for the House 30B seat and will challenge three-term incumbent Rep. Andy Welti of Plainview.

Former First District Republicans Chair Duane Quam has also announced he is seeking the endorsement for Rep. Randy Demmer's House seat 29A. Demmer announced earlier he would not seek re-election to the seat as he focuses on his congressional bid. Quam has set up a basic Web site. Quam is a senior engineer at IBM at lives in Byron. He will be competing with two other Republicans hoping to get the endorsement this weekend at the GOP District 29 Convention in Byron. They are Mantorville City Council member Chuck Bradford and Oronoco family nurse practitioner Kerry Stoick. No Democrats so far have announced they are running for the seat.

For more on local races and endorsements, check out today's story.

Another GOPer running for Demmer's seat

A second Republican candidate is jumping into the House 29A race with hopes of winning retiring Rep. Randy Demmer's seat.

Kerry Stoick, a family nurse practitioner, has filed for the seat. She grew up in Morris, Minn. and currently lives in Oronoco on a hobby farm with her fiance and five children. She has been active behind-the-scenes in politics, serving as legislative chair for the Association of Southeastern Minnesota Nurse Practitioners. She has also lobbied Congress on health care reform.

In a news release, Stoick said she supports health care reform that does not interfere with the free-market system. In particular, she backs the idea of allowing people to buy insurance across state lines. She also wants to see medical malpractice reform to help bring down health care costs.

She does not support raising taxes to balance the state's budget. Instead, she said it is time to lower corporate tax rates to bring new businesses to the state. She also supports reforming welfare. On her Web site, she questions why an employee drug screen is required by many employers and a similar screen is not required for welfare recipients. Here is her Web site.

Already running for the seat is Dodge County Republicans Chair Chuck Bradford of Mantorville. He is also very active in the Rochester Tea Party Patriots and serves on the Mantorville City Council. He ran for the seat two years ago when Demmer announced he was running for the 1st Congressional District seat. When Demmer lost the party's endorsement, he decided to run for re-election to his House seat and Bradford stepped aside. Demmer is once again running for Congress but has said he has no plans to run for re-election to his seat if he loses this time around. Click here to read more about Bradford.

Bradford vows to stay in House race this time

Two years ago, Republican Chuck Bradford voluntarily dropped his bid for the Minnesota House 29A seat to support fellow Republican Rep. Randy Demmer.

Bradford has jumped into the race after Demmer announced he was running for the 1st Congressional District seat held by Democratic Rep. Tim Walz. But when he lost the GOP endorsement to Rochester Dr. Brian Davis, Demmer decided to run for re-election to his House seat. And Bradford, a Demmer supporter, stepped aside.

Once again, Demmer has announced he is running for Congress. The Hayfield Republican has said this time he has no intention of seeking re-election to his seat. But even if Demmer changes his mind, Bradford vowed he is staying in this time.

"I am focused on this race, and I am going to see it through," he said.

He said he plans to stick in the race until the Republican endorsement made and that he will honor that process.

Bradford, 44, currently serves on the Mantorville City Council. He has been an active member of the Republican Party for 20 years and is a member of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots.

If elected, Bradford said he would focus on slicing state spending to address projected budget shortfalls.

“We need to step back and say, ‘Why are we going to continue to expand the growth of government by 20 percent over the biennium over the last 20 years when our citizens income has not grown in that same fashion?’”

So far, no Democrats have announced plans to run for the seat.

More candidates jump into local House races

December has proven to be a busy month for candidate announcements.

Republican Chuck Bradford is expected to announce Tuesday in Rochester that he will run for the House seat currently held by fellow Republican Rep. Randy Demmer of Hayfield.

Demmer is seeking the Republican endorsement for the 1st Congressional District seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Tim Walz. Demmer has already said he does not plan to run for re-election.

Bradford, of Mantorville, ran for the seat during the last election but dropped out after Demmer failed to get the GOP endorsement for the congressional seat and decided to run for re-election to the House
District 29A seat. Bradford current serves on the Mantorville City Council and is chair of the Dodge County Republicans. He is also an active member of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, veteran DFL state Rep. Gene Pelowski is getting some competition from within his own party. The Winona Daily News reports that Winona City Councilwoman Debbie White plans to challenge Pelowski for the District 31A
House seat.

The Winona Daily News quotes a statement from White as to why she is running.

“At this time of great economic challenges, we need a leader who will
listen to the needs of the people in the district. We can no longer afford
to ignore the needs of the people of our district — it is time for new
leadership.”

Rhett Zenke has announced he will seek the Republican endorsement for the
seat.